The US plans to end military subsidies to Ukraine, Pakistan, Vietnam and a number of other countries

MOSCOW, May 24. /TASS/. By leaving Ukraine without military subsidies, the US is embarking on a course towards sparing funds and honoring its national interests, Russian Federation Council upper house's Speaker Valentina Matviyenko told reporters on Wednesday in comments on Washington’s decision to shift military assistance to Ukraine from grants to loans.

"First of all, this indicates a course of the new administration towards changing approaches to military support, and the main thing comes through here - sparing funds and honoring the national interests," Valentina Matviyenko said. "Let us wait and see what will come of it," she added.

She said a change in conceptual approaches is evident - ‘not just supporting at the expense of US taxpayers, but issuing some loans, and this is a different approach, and the amount of these funds will evidently be slashed," she added.

Earlier, the chief of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney confirmed the United States’ intention to end disinterested military subsidies to Ukraine, Pakistan, Vietnam and a number of other countries. All of these will be offered a loans instead. In the meantime, assistance to Israel, Jordan and Egypt will remain free.